Xbox One's Family Play May Return

When Microsoft reversed the Xbox One's always-online requirement and used game restrictions, it also dropped the family share plan. Now Marc Whitten, Xbox One chief product officer, says it's possible the plan could return.

In an interview with IGN, Whitten said of the family plan: "If it's something that people are really excited about and want, we're going to make sure that we find the right way to bring it back." However, Whitten also made it sound as if there were technical considerations to take into account before the feature could return, saying, it was "more of an engineering reality time frame type-thing." This echoes what we were told in our interview immediately following the reversal.

The original family plan allowed gamers to share their game library with up to 10 other family members, but this was removed once Microsoft decided to drop the system's always-on requirement and allow for used games.

Our TakeThe return of the family plan would be a great reclamation for Microsoft. However, in the quote and interview, Whitten is clearly hedging his bets. Maybe I'm being too literal or pessimistic, but given his inclusion of the phrase, "we're going to make sure that we find the right way to bring it back," leads me to believe that if it does indeed come back it won't be like it previously was.